Car-door cleat and sealing device.



No. 810,995. PATENTED JAN. 30, 1906. S. C, SULLIVAN. CAR DOOR CLEAT AND SEALING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED DEG.19, 1904.

UNITED STATES STEPHEN C. SULLIVAN,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CAR-DOOR CLEAT AND SEALING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 30, 1906.

Application filed December 19. 1904. Serial No. 237,498.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN C. SULLIVAN, a citizen of the United States of America,-and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Door Cleats and Sealing Devices, of which the following is a specification.

The main object of my invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient form of fastening means adapted for cleating and sealing the sliding doors of freight-cars. I accomplish this object by the device shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation of a device constructed according to my invention, the cardoor and the adjacent framework of the car being shown partly broken away. Fig. 2 is a section of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig 1.

In the construction shown in the drawings, the side wall or frame of the car is indicated at 3, and the opening 4 is covered by the door 5, which is shown in its closed position. The door 5 is assumed to be a sliding door of the usual form. To open the door, it must be slid toward the right of the figures. It is customary to secure doors of this type by sealing the same at its forward end and then nailing a cleat to the side of the car at the rear end of the door in order to prevent the opening of the same. My invention is intended to supply a single device to replace such sepa rate seal and cleat. To this end I provide a Z-shaped cleat 6, which extends across the rear edge 7 of the door and has a part 8 lying along the face of the door and a part 9 fitting within a socket 10 in the member 11, which is set in flush with the outer face of the wall 3. The member 11 fits along the upper and bottom sides of the part 9, so that when said part is seated in the socket 10 it will be supported in substantially the position shown in the drawings. The member 11 is preferably provided with a flange 12, extending across the end of the part 9 of the cleat to assist in confining said part within the socket. The part 9 has a single aperture extending through the same and registering with a threaded aperture 18 in the member 11. A threaded pin 14 extends through the aperture in the part 9 and is screwed into the aperture 13 for locking the cleat in position. The pin is provided with a flat-sided head 15 of suitable form to permit the pin to be readily turned by the fingers. The pin 15 is connected with an eye 16 on the cleat 6 by means of a chain l 17, which has swiveled connection with the pin, so as to permit the same to rotate without twisting the chain. The eye 16 is also connected by a chain 18 with a staple 19 in the car-door. The head 15 of the pin is pro vided with an elongated e e 20, which may be connected with one o the links of the chain 17 by means of a wire seal 21 to prevent the unscrewing of the pin 15. The cars 22 of the pin render it impossible to rotate the pin when the same is secured to one of the links of the chain by a leaded wire seal in the manner shown.

The operation of the device shown is as fol- -lows: To open the door after the same has been fastened as shown in the drawings, the wire of the seal 21 must first be cut. Then the pin 15 may be screwed out of engagement with the member 11. The cleat 6 may now be removed from engagement with the member 11 by swinging the heel of the part 9 outwardly until the toe of such part can be withdrawn from below the flange 12, The cleat and pin when not in position for securing the door will hangdown from the staple 19. When the cleat is removed from engagement with the member 11, the face of the wall of the car is entirely free from obstructions and the door may readily slide open. The fastening of the door after the same is closed is the reverse of the operation of unfastening the same and will be readily understood from the foregoing description. To attach the wire seal, the pin 14 is first screwed home, and the eye 20 is then connected with one of the links of the chain 17 by means of a wire seal in such manner as to prevent the rotation of the pin.

It is preferred to have the pin 14. extend loosely through the part 9, so that the strain of resisting the opening of the door will be borne by the toe of the cleat bearing against the end of the member 11, the pin 14 serving to prevent the cleat from swinging outwardly from the socket 10.

It will be seen that some of the details of the construction shown may be altered without departing from the spirit of my inven tion.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of a frame, a door slidably mounted on one face of said frame, a member set in flush with said face and having therein a socket, a cleat having a part fitting within said socket, said cleat being adapted when in engagement with said socket, to extend across the edge of the door in its closed position and prevent the opening thereof, a pin secured to said part, having threaded engagement with said member and adapted to secure said part within said socket, and means for sealing said pin to prevent its removal from said socket, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a frame, a door slidably mounted on one face of said frame, a member set in flush with said face and having therein a socket, a cleat having a part fitting within said socket, said cleat being adapted when in engagement with said socket, to eX- tend across the edge of the door in its closed position and prevent the opening thereof, a

STEPHEN C. SULLIVAN.

WVitnesses:

RUDow RUMMLER, EUGENE A. RUMMLER. 

